As a freelancer you do not need approval flows or SSO, but you do need a clean layout, an electronic signature, correct VAT and a way to follow up. This is what counts, what you can skip and what the free plan gives you.
Proposal software for freelancers is a tool that lets you put together a professional proposal quickly, have it signed digitally and follow it up, without paying for features that were built for sales teams. The difference with software for companies is not in the quality of the proposal but in what sits around it. A team needs approval steps, roles and reporting. You need the proposal to look good, the VAT to be right, the client to be able to sign in one click and to know when to call. This article sets out what you do and do not need, how to handle a reverse charge and a small-business VAT scheme, and what you can do on a free plan.
Five things, in order of importance. 1. A clean layout with your own logo and colours, because a proposal is often the first document a client sees from you. 2. An electronic signature so the client does not have to print anything, and so you have evidence of who agreed and when. Proposal Expert delivers a Simple Electronic Signature within eIDAS with an audit trail, which is enough for commercial work. 3. A pricing table that calculates by itself and applies the right VAT, including a reverse charge. 4. Insight into whether the proposal was opened, so your follow-up is not based on a feeling. 5. An archive in which you can find old proposals and duplicate them for the next client. Everything beyond that is pleasant but not necessary. When you try out a tool, test only these five points and you are done in half an hour.
Do not be tempted by features that sound impressive on a comparison page but that you will never touch as a one-person business. Approval flows in which a manager releases a proposal: you are the manager. Single sign-on and user roles: there is one user. White label and a custom domain for the proposal page: your client already knows your name. Extensive analytics on the conversion of a sales team: at five proposals a month you will spot the patterns yourself. The risk with these features is not that they get in the way but that you pay for them. Pick a plan that includes the five basics and only look further when you start working with others. The pricing page of Proposal Expert shows per plan what is included, and the Starter plan at 24 euro per month is aimed at exactly this situation.
Two VAT situations come up often for freelancers and both have to appear correctly on your proposal. A reverse charge: if you supply a business in another country, or work as a subcontractor in construction, you charge no VAT and you state the reverse charge on the proposal together with the VAT number of the client. Your pricing table then has to be able to show a line without VAT next to lines with the standard or a reduced rate. A small-business scheme: many countries have a threshold below which you can opt out of charging VAT altogether, and if you have chosen that you charge no VAT and say so on your proposal and your invoice. Pick a tool in which you can set the VAT rate per line or per proposal, including zero and reverse charge, and that then adds the totals up correctly. Check the total line by hand on your first proposal, and if you are unsure about your own situation talk to your accountant, because the tool calculates what you tell it to.
Following up is a difficult part for many freelancers. You do not want to nag, but silence rarely means no. A workable approach in three steps. Day 0: send the proposal with a short email and a suggestion for a call. Day 2 to 3: if the proposal has been opened, send a short question about the part the client spent longest on, the timeline for example. If it has not been opened yet, send a friendly reminder with the link. Day 7: call. A tool that notifies you the moment the client opens the proposal makes step two concrete, because you respond to behaviour instead of to a calendar. Proposal Expert does this in real time and gives an engagement score per proposal, so with several open proposals you can see which one deserves attention. If you want example texts, look at the article on follow-up emails in this blog.
The free plan of Proposal Expert is meant for occasional use and includes 3 proposals per month, 25 AI credits, 3 electronic signatures per month, 5 templates and 1 brand kit. With that you can have a complete AI draft written (20 credits), have it signed and follow the opening. If you send more, Starter at 24 euro per month (or 19 euro per month paid yearly) is the logical step: 15 proposals per month, 100 AI credits, unlimited electronic signatures and 15 templates. Professional at 59 euro per user per month is meant for people who collaborate or want advanced analytics, which a freelancer rarely needs. A worked example: at 6 proposals a month on Starter you pay 4 euro per proposal. If one extra deal closes because the client could sign online instead of after a week of printing, the software has paid for itself.
Run through these seven points with a real proposal in the tool. Do your logo and house style look right, on a phone as well? Can you choose the VAT rate per line, including reverse charge and zero? Do you get evidence after signing with the time and the signer on it? Can you see when the client opens the proposal? Can you duplicate an old proposal with new client details? Can you cancel monthly? Can you start for free and upgrade later without losing your proposals? Seven times yes and you are in good shape. Start with a free proposal template if you want your texts in order first, and read the article on writing a proposal that wins if you have to send something today.
For ordinary commercial work between businesses, yes. A Simple Electronic Signature with an audit trail records who agreed to which version and when. Only for specific deeds and some government procedures is a qualified signature required, and those are rarely freelance proposals.
Proposal Expert is aimed at proposals and quotes, not at invoicing. You can export the signed proposal with its amounts as a PDF and use it as the basis for your invoice in your accounting package. Connections with Exact Online and Teamleader are on the roadmap.
On the free plan you cannot send a fourth proposal that month, and your existing proposals stay available. You can upgrade to Starter at that moment and carry straight on. Downgrading to free again is always possible later.